From time immemorial, there have been people who dream of taking possession of other people's property in an easy way, by gaining the trust of the victim or by deceiving him. In legal language, such actions are called fraud.
And in order for affected citizens and legal entities to protect their rights, in many cases it is necessary to write a statement to the prosecutor’s office about fraud.
To ensure the legal literacy of the common man, in this article we will talk about how to correctly write a statement to the prosecutor's office regarding fraud (it can be downloaded here), bring the swindler to criminal liability and get your money back. So.
When can and should you contact the prosecutor's office regarding fraud?
First of all, it should be understood that fraud as an offense has many manifestations. If you open the domestic Criminal Code, you can find as many as 6 articles in it, devoted to various forms of fraud.
We should also not forget that for minor offenses (within 1 thousand rubles) administrative liability arises, provided for in Art. 7.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Most fraud cases are handled by the police. However, if fraud has occurred, contacting the prosecutor's office may also be advisable. Thus, a complaint should be filed with this authority when police officers refused to initiate a criminal case at the request of the injured party.
In addition, a statement to the prosecutor's office is written in the case when the subject of fraud is an official of an enterprise or institution. In all other cases, the prosecutor's office does not consider fraud, but transfers the materials to the police for further work with them.
The legislative framework
- Order of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia "On approval and implementation of the Instructions on the procedure for considering applications and receiving citizens in the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation" No. 45 dated January 30, 2013.
- Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “On approval of the Instructions on organizing the consideration of citizens’ appeals in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation” No. 707 dated September 12, 2013.
- Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” No. 59-FZ dated May 2, 2006.
- Federal Law "On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation" No. 2202-1 dated January 17, 1992.
- Criminal Code of the Russian Federation No. 63-FZ dated June 13, 1996.
Composition of the crime and participants
Generally, fraud refers to obtaining money or property through deception or breach of trust.
Transferring money using forged or knowingly false documents is also considered fraud. This type of crime is typical for the banking, insurance or social sectors.
Computer scammers are also common, using modern technologies to gain access to other people’s data and bank accounts.
Fraud consists of deliberate evasion of execution of contracts concluded between business representatives.
What distinguishes fraud from theft or robbery is that the victim voluntarily transfers property to the attackers.
Fraudsters can act either alone or in organized groups. The injured party is both citizens and enterprises (institutions). However, there may be several victims of fraud.
Fraud involving or in relation to individual entrepreneurs and commercial organizations
Until recently, the injured party had the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office about fraud by a legal entity. Criminal liability for enterprises was provided for in Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, this provision has now been excluded from the legislation.
Therefore, officials of organizations or individual entrepreneurs are responsible for fraud in the business environment. Depending on the crime, liability arises under Part 3 or 5 of Article 159.
However, it happens that the fact of illegal actions is difficult to prove. Therefore, prosecution is largely determined by a sufficient number of documents and testimony.
In addition, the participation of a criminal lawyer would also be useful. He knows first-hand how to properly protect the rights of the victim. .
Fraud involving or against an individual
In this case, an application to the prosecutor's office about fraud by an individual is submitted with reference to the relevant article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is advisable to study the rules of criminal law before writing a statement.
You can attach not only documents to your application, but also video footage, recordings of telephone conversations, and printouts from email. Basically any evidence you have.
Contacting the police
The responsibilities of the police include searching for the fraudster and primary evidence for further initiation of a criminal case and its transfer to the prosecutor's office. This is where you need to turn when you need to find an unknown attacker or establish the presence of malicious intent.
Immediately after realizing the fact of fraud, the injured party should immediately contact the police. You can do this in one of the following ways:
- By visiting the department in person. The law does not establish the need to apply at the place of registration. In case of several facts of offenses, it is recommended to contact the department where the last or most of them were committed. The complaint must be registered in the message log, and its author is given a ticket with information about the assigned number. It is important to keep the latter as evidence of the application, which may be useful in case of bureaucratic red tape or further litigation.
- By calling the police to the scene. The method is especially relevant when it is necessary to inspect the scene of an incident or interview witnesses to confirm fraudulent actions.
- By sending a registered letter with notification (the latter allows you to control the timing of consideration of the application by law enforcement agencies).
- Through the official portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On a note!
In practice, submitting an application in person is considered more effective, since the application is processed faster. The decision to initiate a criminal case is made within 10 days from the date of filing, of which the applicant is notified by mail.
Application Form
When you call the police, the officers will draw up a report of the crime and help you write a statement about it correctly. When this is not possible, the document can be drawn up independently in handwritten or printed text, which indicates:
- Top right: full name and title of the official, name of the police department to which the document is addressed. Immediately below them are the applicant’s details: full name, place of residence, contact phone number. For cases of fraud against minors, it is important to indicate the details of the child and his legal representative.
On a note! Lack of information about the name or title of the addressee cannot be grounds for refusing to accept an application.
- Title by or "Complaint".
- Description of criminal acts indicating the date, time, place of their commission, data of the persons who committed the fraudulent acts (if known). It also describes the circumstances and measures taken previously that will confirm that a criminal act qualifying as fraud has been committed. You can also indicate possible witnesses who can be included in the investigation of the case.
- Please initiate a criminal case and bring the perpetrators to justice.
- Mention of awareness of criminal liability when providing knowingly false testimony under Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
- A list of additional materials indicated in the text or necessary to confirm the arguments presented.
- Signature and date of compilation.
The correctness of drawing up a complaint, comprehensive coverage of what happened and the availability of evidence directly affect the speed of launching a complaint into action, the efficiency and results of the investigation.
Additional documents
When choosing documents to attach to the application, you should adhere to the so-called principle of relevance of evidence: use those that are directly related to the case and confirm one or another of the stated circumstances.
On a note! Instead of original samples, it is allowed to attach copies of them. During further consideration of the case, the receiving person will compare them with the originals to ensure their authenticity.
Examples of possible options for attachments to a complaint:
- receipt (in cases of non-repayment of borrowed money and their misappropriation);
- phone call printouts;
- bank statements about debits (in case of illegal withdrawal of money from the card);
- documents on ownership of an apartment, house, garage (when the object of fraud is real estate);
- documents for equipment (in case of its misappropriation by fraudulent means);
- invoices, sales agreements concluded with the attacker;
- screenshots of correspondence or fraudulent sites;
- certificate of income (to confirm the significance of the material damage caused).
Refusal to initiate a case
If the police refuse to initiate a case, the decision can be appealed through the prosecutor's office or court. The applicant first needs to know the reasons for this decision. By law, the official who reviewed the application is required to notify the author of the decision (usually within 14 days). If for some reason (negligence of the police or postal workers) the notification was not sent, the victim must independently contact the police to obtain a copy of the refusal decision. It is in this situation that the coupon received during personal submission with the registration number of the document will be useful. Using it, you can quickly find the authorized employee who was entrusted with reviewing the document.
When the reason for the refusal is found out, with which the victim does not agree, you can write a complaint. At the same time, it is important to convincingly prove that the actions of government officials do not comply with the law, because:
- are unreasonable;
- contradict criminal procedural legislation;
- the reasons for refusal are not substantiated.
Sample complaint against a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case
The complaint is given 3-10 days for consideration by the prosecutor's office or up to 5 days when considered by the court. If there are grounds, the decision to refuse is canceled, otherwise the appeal remains unsatisfied. But even in this case, the applicant has 10 days to appeal the appeal.
Procedure and terms for consideration of the application
Received materials are signed by the responsible employee of the prosecutor's office. He checks the correctness of the application and the presence of all required information in it.
Then there is a certain procedure for checking the information contained in the appeal. Depending on the specific case, the period for processing the application is from 3 to 10 days.
After this, the prosecutor's office issues a decision based on the results of consideration of the application. If the complaint of the victim of fraud is satisfied, then the resolution specifies a list of those actions (with deadlines) that must be carried out by the police.
○ Where and how is it going?
The application is submitted to law enforcement agencies in a manner convenient for the victim.
✔ To the police.
A police report can be filed by personally contacting and registering. In this case, you need to have your passport with you. The complaint will be registered by the duty officer and accepted for investigation. The letter can also be sent by registered mail, keeping the postal receipt.
Another method that became available relatively recently is submitting an application via the Internet, through the State Services website. To do this, you just need to go to your personal account on the website (if you don’t have one, go through a simple registration procedure) and select the “Submit an application electronically” function. Next, fill in all the specified fields, not forgetting to describe in detail the essence of the request and click on the button to receive the service.
The undoubted advantage of this method is accessibility (you can submit an application without leaving your home), anonymity and speed. But if you submit an application in person, you have a guarantee of its acceptance, and here you need to rely only on the good faith of the recipient of the application.
✔ To the prosecutor's office.
You should contact this authority if you are absolutely sure that the criminal act committed is fraudulent in nature, and you want to initiate a check of the documentation of the alleged criminal. The appeal can also be sent by mail or via the Internet, or submitted in person. If you choose the online submission method, you must also use the State Services website.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Sample statement of claim for recovery of wages
If a criminal case has been opened, what next?
Let's assume that you, as the injured party, have succeeded in initiating criminal proceedings. However, one should also be active within it. First of all, it is necessary to cooperate with the investigation. In particular, you should come for interrogations and participate in other investigative actions (identification, confrontation, etc.).
The investigator also needs to immediately write a statement recognizing you as a victim and a private prosecutor. From this moment on, you have certain procedural rights.
To recover damages (material and moral) caused by fraud, a civil claim should be filed. It is not much different from the statement of claim prescribed in the Civil Procedure Code.
The only difference is that it is submitted to the investigator or court that will deal with the criminal case. In addition, more emphasis needs to be placed on the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The law does not allow the prosecutor to demand damages from fraudsters. For this purpose, it is possible to file a claim in court for compensation for damages from the crime committed.
Let us only add that filing a civil claim does not require payment of state duty. The decision on such an application is contained in the verdict of the court in the fraud case.
○ How to make an application?
Despite the fact that the form of drawing up the document is not established by law, there is a structure that must be followed in order for it to be accepted by the authorized bodies.
We suggest you read: The witness did not appear in court
In this part you need to display the details:
- Recipient of the appeal (full name of the authority).
- Applicant (full name, registration address and telephone number).
This information is indicated at the top of the document on the right side. It is important to take into account that such a statement is impersonal, that is, it is not necessary to indicate the details of the official. Full details of the applicant are required to provide feedback.
This is the most important part of the application, because the likelihood of successful completion of the case depends on its correct completion. You are required to describe the crime committed. It is important to do this in as much detail as possible so that employees have as many facts as possible on which to base their investigation.
This includes a description of the request to investigate the events that occurred, indicating a reference to the legislative act (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, if you are not sure that the crime committed can be classified as fraud, you do not need to indicate the article. In this case, you should limit yourself to general phrases about the need to conduct an investigation.
Another important point in the final part is to indicate without fail the fact that you are aware of your responsibility for giving knowingly false testimony under Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
At the end of the document, you need to provide a list of attachments and put the date and your signature with a transcript.
✔ Application form.
The petition is made in simple written form and certified by the signature of the applicant. The document must be registered at the duty station, so it is better to have two copies. One of them with the employee’s signature on acceptance must be kept with you in case of any controversial situations.
How to write a statement to the prosecutor's office about fraud: useful tips and recommendations
Before filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office, it is useful to use our several recommendations. Here is their summary
Study the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure
We have already said above that fraudulent actions fall under several articles of the criminal law. Moreover, each of them has several parts. Therefore, it is important to correctly refer in the application to the relevant elements of the crime.
The Code of Criminal Procedure should pay attention to the rules that regulate the procedure for appealing a refusal to initiate a criminal case. They are also referred to in the statement.
Don't make categorical judgments
If you are only guessing who committed unlawful actions against you, but are not completely sure, then avoid making a categorical statement.
Otherwise, there is a risk of being held accountable for false denunciation. When you do not know the identity of the scammer, it is better to point to an unidentified person.
Avoid insults and harsh language in your application.
Practice shows that the prosecutor's office has an extremely negative attitude towards such an application. Therefore, be as correct as possible in your presentation or contact a fraud lawyer.
Justify the amount of damage caused
If you can document the extent of the damages caused, it is important to do so with convincing evidence. Naturally, they should be attached to the application.
Operate only with facts
Do not make any assumptions: state the circumstances regarding illegal actions clearly and specifically.
Leave your contact phone number
Stay in constant contact, as prosecutors may require additional information from you at any time.
Carrying out verification actions on the application
In addition to the statement itself, the person who contacted the prosecutor’s office may be summoned to give explanations to the investigator. They can be recorded independently or by a prosecutor from the words of the victim.
Here it is already necessary to set out all the details related to the crime.
The applicant must describe in detail what happened to him during at least the day the crime was committed:
- What places was he in?
- Who did you call and communicate with?
- What kind of transport did you use, indicating at least the approximate time of each action?
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This will help identify witnesses and eyewitnesses to the crime. Other persons who have information of interest to the investigation. As well as photo and video recording systems that could record the fact of committing fraudulent actions.
In some cases, the prosecutor may ask to provide a printout of telephone calls, SMS messages or Internet correspondence, in the interests of a faster and better investigation.
The application with the attached documents is submitted to the head of the prosecutor's office, who decides which employee will deal with this application.
The applicant may be summoned to the prosecutor's office again for clarification or to give new testimony. In the process of conducting verification activities, the prosecutor's office may cooperate with other law enforcement agencies.
